According to Palo Alto Networks, the next-generation firewall redefines how network traffic is controlled.

So who exactly is the brains behind the next-generation firewall, and is it something to take seriously?

According to Palo Alto Networks, the next-generation firewall redefines how network traffic is controlled – rather than classifying traffic based on port number or IP address, it classifies traffic at the application and user level.

Palo Alto Networks' Lee Klarich told SC Magazine in 2009 that modern applications go through another port, such as with Google, where the firewall doesn't understand what it is looking at and therefore doesn't work.

He said: “Every firewall is based on stateful inspection where each application fits into a port. Now we are using the firewall as a secure device, the challenge of it is different to the challenge facing the firewall. Any other company will cover it with new products, creating a patchwork of products to what one can do when designed and used properly.”

Nir Zuk, CTO and founder of Palo Alto Networks, later told SC Magazine that "the traditional firewall does not do anything and it does not fix but create a problem and you will not find a UTM that stays active more than five per cent of the time when you upload software such as anti-virus".